Everything I Read in 2025

Yes, it’s January, but I’m just now posting my book roundup for 2025. I didn’t write about books all year and I’m determined to share this!

2025 Book Total: 81

My best showing since 2021, when I read 91 books.

Fiction Top 10

I gave limited thought to my top 10s, so let’s not question them too closely!

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins // I had avoided reading Songbirds & Snakes because I wasn’t interested in finding young Snow sympathetic. But I read it before SOTR came out to ensure I wouldn’t miss anything (turned out I shouldn’t have worried, F that guy), and I’m glad I did. Haymitch’s story is probably the most heart-wrenching Hunger Games book and that’s really saying something.

There’s Something About Mira by Sonali Dev // Loved this wild goose chase through NYC with a people-pleasing protagonist trying to shake off her family’s expectations.

Florida by Lauren Groff // I bought my copy of Florida in 2024 at Judy Blume’s bookstore in Key West, because it seemed appropriate. I finally read it after hearing that Florence Welch’s verse of “Florida!!!” was inspired by one of the stories. Well done, everyone involved.

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez // A. Jim NEVER MISSES and I think this is her best yet. I also think it’s the most cinematic of her stories and should be optioned immediately.

The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley // 2025 was a huge year for Dramione shippers as THREE beloved fanfic authors published original books. This one was as fun as I expected.

Everyone Is Lying to You by Jo Piazza // I don’t read a lot of thrillers, but this tradwife murder mystery was COMPELLING. Also I’m a fan of basically everything Jo Piazza does.

Alchemised by SenLinYu // It’s impossible to know how I’d feel about this book if I wasn’t deeply familiar with Manacled, its source material. Some aspects of the worldbuilding were confusing, and like Manacled, the story is a tragedy. In any case, Sen is a brilliant writer and I hope to see a lot more from her.

The Thrashers by Julie Soto // While I also loved Julie Soto’s Rose in Chains (2025 fanfic adaptation #3), I found The Thrashers so original and twisty. I’m excited that this one has already been optioned for a Netflix series!

We Lived on the Horizon by Erika Swyler* // I got an ARC of Erika Swyler’s latest because she’s become one of my go-tos – I mean, I had a quote from Light from Other Stars lettered for my son’s wall. This sci-fi novel is a mystery about class wars and AI set in a walled city. I haven’t read anything else like it.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe // I feel odd saying that a novel about a young single mom who starts an OnlyFans and lives with her washed-up professional wrestler dad is delightful, but it is.

Other Fiction

• Entitlement by Rumaan Alam
• The Many Lives of Serena Page by Tessa Alexandra
• A Reason to See You Again by Jami Attenberg
• Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake
• Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
• Ruins by Lily Brooks-Dalton*
• All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
• James by Percival Everett
• The Favorites by Layne Fargo
• One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin
• The Summertime Girls by Laura Hankin
• I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
• Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
• A Magical New York Christmas by Anita Hughes
• The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez
• Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
• Real Americans by Rachel Khong
• Hooked on a Feline by Sofie Kelly
• I Think We’ve Been Here Before by Suzy Krause
• Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea
• Bliss Montage by Ling Ma
• Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes by Alexa Martin
• Tilt by Emma Pattee
• The Compound by Aisling Rawle
• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum
• Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
• Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
• The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong
• State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg
• Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories by Kevin Wilson

Nonfiction Top 10

There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib // This memoir of loving basketball, and growing up on the rough side of Columbus, is poetry. Sometimes literally.

Joyful, Anyway by Kate Bowler* // The crescendo of all of Kate Bowler’s work to date. I will be purchasing this book for friends when it comes out.

Cher: The Memoir, Part 1 by Cher // I did not expect to be so transfixed by this memoir, but I read it almost a year ago and there are several parts I still think about often. Can’t wait for part 2.

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar el Akkad** // A treatise on Palestine by a celebrated Middle Eastern journalist. Maybe the most important book of 2025. He also wrote the speculative novel American War, which I read in 2018 and also still think about often.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten // A hug from the Barefoot Contessa herself.

107 Days by Kamala Harris** // What can I even say??

Awake: A Memoir by Jen Hatmaker* // I swore off Jen Hatmaker for a while after she did some diet-culturey things, but came back for her memoir of divorce in the Christian public eye and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT. Those of us who have also been married and divorced within evangelical culture KNOW.

Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show by Bethany Joy Lenz // An irresistible combination of two of my longtime interests: cults and One Tree Hill.

A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy by Tia Levings // This memoir was tough on my heart, but should be widely read to illustrate what some people in power want to drag us back to.

Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler // A sort of Girl, Interrupted for the 21st century.

Other Nonfiction

• Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding A True Faith by April Ajoy
• Not That Wheel, Jesus!: Stories From a Faith That Went Off-Road in the Best (And Worst) Possible Ways by Mary Katherine Backstrom*
• Feeding the Soul (Because It’s My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom by Tabitha Brown
• How We Learn to Be Brave by Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde
• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
• Why Am I Like This?: How to Break Cycles, Heal from Trauma, and Restore Your Faith by Kobe Campbell**
• Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras by Sarah Chapelle
• The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates**
• A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst
• Taylor Swift by the Book: The Literature Behind the Lyrics, from Fairy Tales to Tortured Poets by Rachel Feder
• The Perimenopause Survival Guide: Make Sense of Your Symptoms and Build Your Personalized Treatment Plan by Dr. Heather Hirsch*
• A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting by Casey Johnston*
• The People’s Project: Poems, Essays, and Art for Looking Forward, ed. Saeed Jones**
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer**
• Facing the Music: My Story by Jennifer Knapp
• Jump and Find Joy: Embracing Change in Every Season of Life by Hoda Kotb*
• Missing Me: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis and the Long Road Back by Ayana Lage*
• Over the Influence: A Memoir by Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
• The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement by Sharon McMahon
• Growing Up Again: Life, Love and Oh Yeah, Diabetes by Mary Tyler Moore
• Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach Us about Freedom by Kelly Nikondeha**
• Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield
• Faithful Families for Advent and Christmas: 100 Ways to Make the Season Sacred by Tracy Smith
• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder (re-read)**
• Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino (re-read)**
• Another Word for Love: A Memoir by Carvell Wallace**
• Waiting for Britney Spears by Jeff Weiss
• Salty: Lessons on Eating, Drinking, and Living from Revolutionary Women by Alissa Wilkinson
• Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams

* = ARC (via either Netgalley or Goodreads)

** = Book club selection

About Brenda

Mom to a preschooler with T1D. Paralegal. Swiftie. Xennial. Grizzlies and Tigers. Pilates and Peloton. Books and fanfic. 901 / 305 View all posts by Brenda →